Suppose it were possible for companies to figure out ahead of time which ideas and inventions to spend their money on. They would then be able to develop portfolios of patents that could be licensed for great sums of money; not waste money on patenting ideas that are easily worked around; etc. Today, companies figure out what inventions to patent using a variety of techniques including setting priorities based upon information that they can glean from a variety of sources including the market, prior success of products, customers, etc. Often, large companies employ patent committees that vet out ideas based upon a priority system, often aligned with perceived importance of current and future products, budget, etc. The process is far from a science, and typically costly mistakes are made early in the process without being caught until the money has already been spent.